Key Points

• It’s hard to pinpoint precisely when the age of automation truly started, but it’s ramped up considerably in the past few years. 
• New jobs in this area will cover a lot of ground, including robotics, farming, and vehicles. 
• There are likely to be even more jobs created that we haven’t thought of yet. 

If you believe everything you read, you’ll know there was supposed to be a better-than-good chance that close to 47% of existing jobs could be gone in 15 years due to automation. While time will tell whether this Oxford University study is accurate, no doubt this number concerns some people, depending on your field of work. 

Yes, there will be some job changes in the age of automation, and I don’t think anyone disputes that this will happen, but to what degree is the question? The real challenge is that we don’t know how much or to what extent AI will be integrated into the workforce and companies in the next few years. AI is a bit of a blur right now, so plenty of questions are still left without answers. 

What Is the Age of Automation? 

It is a broad phrase, but the Age of Automation describes the current period in history where automation is becoming increasingly relevant and seen in the workforce and workplace. There’s some disagreement about when exactly this current “age of automation” started, but the idea is that computers, artificial intelligence, and robots have played a role. 

However, to tie this together more responsibly regarding jobs, the pace of automation has undoubtedly increased over the past few years. The rise of ChatGPT, in particular, has significantly popularized AI and machine learning. 

Of course, it’s not just one platform, but it and others like it have helped expand the conversation about jobs, the economy, and the need for both the executive and legislative branches to tackle these issues head-on. 

Cyber City Analyst

One of the fundamental expectations coming out of the age of automation is that our cities will get brighter. While this sounds like a head-scratcher as a job, the idea that there will be a constant flow of data related to various elements of what keeps a city running will require a role to manage this stream of information. 

Anyone in this role can expect to support a city in running smoothly beyond what a current city manager already does. This individual will be tasked with ensuring city systems are also protected against any potential cyber-attacks that could bring down critical systems like water or electricity, so they will wear multiple hats, all of which are critical. 

Robot Dispatcher

Another job expected to become very popular during the age of automation is that of a robot dispatcher. It remains to be seen just how much of a presence self-driving cars will have in the future, but assuming their use grows, you can expect the need for robot dispatchers in the age of automation. 

In other words, this individual would oversee the fleets of vehicles driving themselves but ensure they are not putting humans in danger or not working correctly. The good news for this role is that this person won’t even need to be in the exact location of these vehicles or even the same part of the world. Instead, they can be anywhere they connect directly to these vehicles if they need to step in and take action. 

Think of this role as a co-pilot of sorts. While it’s possible the need for human oversight won’t be necessary decades down the road, for now, the idea of a robot dispatcher is a very real job that the age of automation will help create. 

Data-Driven Life Coaches

It’s safe to say that some people don’t think life coaches are all they are cracked up to be until the age of automation. These days, data-driven life coaches will help you interpret all of the data being captured by the machines that are getting data from you. 

This could be related to your fitness, shopping habits, or even how well (or not well) you eat. As all of this data has to be stored somewhere so you can look at trends, someone else besides yourself should be able to help you interpret it all and tell what it means, where you can improve, if anything is alarming, etc. 

There is no question that machines can tell you all about the current habits you are undergoing, but you need someone who can also encourage you to do more of something or that you are already doing a great job. Enter the data-driven life coach. 

Urban Farmer

This is going to be controversial as it begs the question of what will happen to all of the farms across America and much of the world today. Considering that only 2% of Americans live and work on farms today leads to questions about how and where the age of automation will fit into this field. 

The answer, at least in the age of automation, concerns the role of the urban farmer. This position will be specific to the idea that cities must get creative in urban areas, where space is premium and open land is challenging to locate. This means that rooftops and warehouses will be the future of farming and that hydroponic technology will be relied on to ensure that plants can grow. 

It’s too early to say just how extensive the urban farming field will be or how many urban farmers will be required, but the writing is very much on the wall that this field is already happening. 

Augmented Reality Architect

Can you imagine designing a city block, or even a whole city, using little more than virtual reality glasses? If it sounds like a game, you wouldn’t be alone in this thought, and yet the age of automation is likely to make this field a real thing in the coming years. 

Augmented reality is already well-known, as companies like Apple and Google are integrating some aspects of this technology into their smartphones. However, the role of the augmented reality architect will take the smartphone work a dozen steps further. 

This means that you will not only be using your phones but also augmented reality glasses that you wear daily to look at the environment around you in a whole new way. This will come to life as you walk home and see someone put an augmented reality sculpture on the sidewalk as you leave work. 

Prompt Engineer

This job has already existed in some capacity over the last two years and will continue to exist in the age of automation. While ChatGPT and its counterparts are powerful and require little more than inputting a question, they can do so much more.

This is where the job of a prompt engineer comes in. This person can help craft prompts that will guide AI interactions. This person and this role will be responsible for working with organizations to help improve the performance of their AI models so they are more user-friendly to clients, consumers, and everyone else.

A prompt engineer will continue working with AI models to stay current, interpret data, and identify patterns to help these programs meet user needs. As the age of automation continues and AI tools become more complex, this job will be more critical than ever to ensure that consumers and companies do not find AI tools more difficult to use than previous models. 

Sentiment Analyzer

This job will be more specific toward AI than automation, but it will become more necessary as companies want to use AI to interpret and understand customer sentiment. Whether it’s from blogs, online review scores, or social media, how well companies understand their work is critical to making future business decisions. 

However, machines can’t be trusted to do all this work independently, so you have to have a human available to help take all of this collected content and interpret it with a human touch. This means including human emotion to understand the who, what, where, and why of what customers are saying online and if there is action that can be taken because of it. 

Communication Work

Something of a broad stroke of work, the idea that a role will exist for someone who knows how to properly liaise between humans and machines will be an essential role. Communication roles have existed since the dawn of man, and in the age of automation, this role will be even more critical. 

The belief is that as machines and AI tools automate more basic tasks, there will be an immediate need for someone who interfaces these two working groups inside a company. If it sounds easy to talk to machines, you would be kidding yourself as it’s not easy at all. It takes a particular skill set to know exactly how to speak to a machine in a way that allows it to be programmed to work well with the tools and maybe even the people around it. 

Again, all of this sounds very broad and ill-defined, which is international. This role has yet to be as truly defined as that of an urban farming specialist. However, the work of a communicator who can talk to people and machines will be even more critical than most people and companies imagine. 

Artificial Intelligence Assistant 

We’ve already started to see on platforms like Facebook and Twitter/X that machines often interpret data and, more specifically, trends incorrectly. Humans understand the nuances of different languages far better than machines, so the need for someone who can intelligently assist artificial intelligence will come in handy without question. 

The role of this individual and/or teams that tackle this job will be to help fill in the gaps in these machine intelligence systems so they can make more informed decisions in the future. We’re already seeing this play out on a small level using CAPTCHA machines, which are incredibly frustrating. However, because of human input, CAPTCHA machines have improved, even if they still need work. 

Smart Home Designer

As much as many people like to consider themselves home design experts after a few days of watching HGTV, this isn’t true. What is true is that the age of automation will give rise to the smart home designer. This doesn’t eliminate the need for interior design, as we’re not talking about carpet or furniture but the physical design of a home itself. 

The person in this role has to have a unique set of skills, including strong personal communication skills and the ability to implement automated technology solutions to help make a home interconnected. Between doorbells, alarms, cameras, kitchens, ovens, and all of the other standalone smart home appliances available today, someone in the future will help connect all of these. 

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

The good news is that plenty of resources are available to learn more about the age of automation. For example, try to learn more about how automation will boost your productivity, which is a great case study for how it will hopefully positively impact jobs today.

You can also switch gears and discover which industries will most likely benefit from automation. The bottom line is that automation will happen, whether people, industries, or companies want it to. The train has already left the station, and everyone must get on board or miss the ride.

Conclusion

Being fearful about your career and what automation might mean for you is perfectly okay. There is no question that the rise of the age of automation will negatively impact some jobs and businesses. However, the hope is that companies that want to be first movers and get into automation quickly will upskill their current employees, providing job security and potentially even more pay for new work methods.

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